ARIZONA, USA — The storyline might sound familiar: A McCain is fighting for Congress to protect America's allies.
Those allies are the Afghans who fought and worked alongside the American military during our longest war.
The "McCain," in this case, is Jack McCain, a Navy veteran of the Afghanistan War, a military adviser there and son of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
"It is about as deeply personal an issue as it can be," McCain said in an interview on this weekend's "Sunday Square Off."
"I spent a year of my life, living, working and fighting alongside Afghan pilots ... I learned a language, a culture, a history, and taught them to fly Black Hawk helicopters throughout the country."
When word got out after his father's funeral in 2018 that the son of Sen. John McCain had deployed to Afghanistan, Jack McCain became a potential target.
"They protected me at a time when they didn't have to," McCain said of the Afghans he worked with.
"They could have made a splash if something had happened to me while I was in Afghanistan. It was a bit of a secret that I was there. And so they kept me safe."
So when America's evacuation of Afghanistan last year descended into chaos, McCain and fellow veterans scrambled to protect their Afghan comrades.
"I knew who the people were, and just tried to get them out," he said.
McCain helped dozens of refugees resettle with their families in Arizona.
But after a year in the United States, the refugees' situation remains precarious.
McCain has joined veterans across the country in pressuring Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill that would create a vetting program for refugees and give them a path to citizenship.
CNN reported Sunday that a who's who of retired generals and admirals signed a letter to Congress over the weekend, urging swift passage of the bill, before Congress adjourns for Christmas.
"They're highly skilled, highly educated, and will make amazing Americans, he said."
McCain wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, calling out his father's former Republican Senate colleagues.
McCain, a fourth-generation graduate of the Naval Academy, has rarely taken a public stance on major issues.
He did endorse Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly - a fellow Naval aviator - during the midterm elections, but he says he's not interested in following his father into politics. He works in government affairs for American Airlines.
"I don't really mind what the partisan issues are. What I care about is getting it done," McCain said.
And if the bill doesn't pass before the current congressional session ends?
"While I don't think it's a reality that they're going to get deported, many of them are facing the fear that they might," he said.
Federal legislation providing assistance for the refugees runs out at the end of March 2023.
Arizona long been one of the country's more welcoming states for refugees.
The state Department of Economic Security has information here on how you can help.
Sunday Square Off
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